There has been a “dramatic” improvement in the movement of trucks across borders between South Africa and its neighbours over the past few years, according to Gavin Kelly, chief executive officer of the Road Freight Association (RFA).He attributes this to the introduction of Authorised Economic Operators (AEOs) and preclearing of cargo.Introduced in 2024, the AEO system has replaced manual paper processes with eFiling of applications and supporting documents. Applicants are kept advised through automated notifications, according to the South African Revenue Service.The introduction of preclearing has reduced the processing time for trucks. Another factor contributing to expediting the f low of freight is the opening of certain border posts for 24-hour operation. But hauliers and their clients still need to factor in the possibility of delays, he warns.These are due to load-shedding, inclement weather, and riots such as those experienced recently in Mozambique.In that case, the border posts were closed to protect drivers, their vehicles and cargo, he says.New customs regulations can also add obstacles to the free f low of cargo.A recent example is the in-transit cargo clearing procedure instituted by the Botswana Unified Revenue Service in November 2024.The Unique Consignment Reference (UCR) system has increased the time and effort required for cargo clearance. It can take customs officials more than twice as long as previously to process each line entr y.The system requires that every item in a truck be cleared through a separate Received-in-Transit (RIT) entry by a clearing agent, in place of a consolidated RIT. As reported by Freight News, this led to a build-up of traffic as border crossing times increased from a few hours to days.“Despite these challenges, cross-border movements have normalised overall, with waiting times being determined by the ebb and f low of the number of vehicles at the border,” says Kelly. ER
